Welcome to Mount Rainier, Maryland (near Washington DC)

So you’ve decided to move to Mount Rainier, Maryland?

Congratulations on finding the best, undiscovered city outside of Washington D.C. Housing prices are reasonable (for DC), there’s a metro within walking distance (17 minutes to Chinatown), it’s a friendly walkable neighborhood where you get to know your neighbors, and there’s no real mountain. Takoma Park at half the price and twice the diversity…

This guide should help you in finding your way (and if anyone has suggestions, make a comment below and I’ll incorporate it)…

Statistics

Even with all the single family homes, apparently Mount Rainier has the highest population density in Maryland, over 12,000 people per square mile (of course the total area is only 0.65 square miles).

• Mount Rainier on Wikipedia
• Mount Rainier Profile

Basics

• Government
  • City of Mount Rainier
  • Police
  • Fire (county)
  • Library (county)
  • Hospital
    • Providence (DC)
    • Prince George’s (MD)
• Utilities
  • Water - Washington Sanitation District
  • Electricity - Pepco (cheapest default supplier) or Pepco Energy (green electricity, roughly 3 cents/kWh more than coal/nuclear)
  • Natural gas - Washington Gas (cheapest default supplier)
  • Curbside Pickup (city)
    • Compost on Monday (yard waste)
    • Trash on Wednesday
    • Recycling on Friday (paper/cardboard, #1/#2 plastic, aluminum, metal; don’t separate)

Community

• Arts - Gateway Arts District (a growing artist community; my review)
  
• Economic Development
  • Gateway Community Development Corporation
  • Anacostia Hours (alternative/local currency; my review)
  • Route 1 Growth Blog
• Food
  • The Glut Food Coop (”still funky, still cheap” groceries; my review)
  • Artmosphere Cafe (great jazz on Mondays; my review)
  • Island Style Ice Cream (mango, stout, and soursop flavors; my review)
• News
  • Prince George’s County Gazette
  • Mount Rainier Email List (community chatter)
  • Washington Post Local Explorer
• Other Resources
  • Community Forklift (building materials reuse center)

Outside

• Northwest Branch Trail
• Mount Rainier Nature Center
• Mount Rainier Pool Club
• Running Club
  
• Biking
  • Biking Club
  • Mount Rainier Bike Coop Website / Email List

Other Links

• Joe’s Mount Rainier Website

Want to live here? Find a home in Mount Rainier.

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• DC Food: Artmosphere Cafe
• Hello World!
• “eclectic city”
• some pictures as promised